Chesterfield man angered after yard becomes 'swampland' during rain

Casey Davenport says other homes along his side of South Ridge Drive in Midlothian have the same problem. The houses sit on the lower part of a hill. Right now, nothing is stopping rainwater from gushing into backyards.

Davenport says a stream of rainwater runs through his property, gushing from his backyard, around his home, into his front lawn.

"You can see where the water comes under the fence, comes around and funnels right between the house and the shed," said Davenport.

Davenport's sump pump overflowed. The insulation under his home became drenched.

He says rainwater was once diverted through the woods, right above his home, to a nearby creek. However, he says, years ago, the area of trees closest to his house was cleared to make way for underground pipelines. Now, it saturates his lawn and neighboring lawns.

Richard Hunt also says his backyard is often flooded.

"When it rains really hard, we have a lot of standing water. Most people [on this side of the block] don't sit in their backyards because of the standing water," described Hunt.

Davenport carved out a trench by the pipelines, and along his yard, to catch the water.

"I dug all this by hand to drain the water away," said Davenport.

However, Davenport's fix wasn't permanent. He called county officials for help. County officials say the entire area is private property. Technically the county isn't required to intervene in the situation. However, county officials have agreed to bring in a truck load of dirt to help create a huge berm near the trench.

It should be noted that if your home sits below a property that's draining onto your land, it's up to you to fix the problem. It's not incumbent upon the neighbor who lives above you to stop rainwater from draining onto your property. County officials were able to help out in this case, because they can be granted legal access to the pipeline. The owner of the property was also agreeable.